Pope Francis willing to visit North Korea, Vatican official says

Conditions would have to be met before invitation from Kim Jong-un could be accepted

Pope Francis will seriously consider making an unprecedented visit to North Korea, but some conditions would have to be met, a senior Vatican official has said.

An invitation from the closed state’s leader, Kim Jong-un, was relayed to the pope by South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, who is Catholic, during a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday. The South Korean presidential office said Moon had “conveyed [Kim’s] desire for a papal visit to North Korea”, with a formal invitation directly from Pyongyang to follow.